


Sherbet Lemon

by pinkflyingtiger



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Tina Goldstein, Canon Compliant, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Just a little follow on from the last scene where we see the gang in Crimes of Grindelwald, M/M, One Shot, Past Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Post-Movie 2: Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Pre-Slash, Protective Tina Goldstein, Tina and Dumbledore discuss stuff I wish had been said about queenie grindelwald and mcgonagall, Tina's Perspective, why is she there idk but i'm fully prepared to embrace it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26961553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkflyingtiger/pseuds/pinkflyingtiger
Summary: "I'm not sure I knew my sister at all Professor Dumbledore. I thought I did. But she surprised me, she surprised us all. It’s crazy but I don't know what to do or what to say to make it right.""It may surprise you to know that I know a little of what that feels like." Dumbledore gave her an assured but sympathetic glance."I was told you've had dealings with Mr. Grindelwald before." Tina nodded.Dumbledore gave her a look that was somewhere between a smile and a frown. "Funny." He said. "I'd almost forgotten he factored into it at all. No, I was simply referring to the feeling of thinking one knew one's sister and being mortifyingly wrong."
Relationships: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Tina Goldstein/Newt Scamander
Comments: 18
Kudos: 79





	Sherbet Lemon

**Author's Note:**

> So the last time I posted on ao3 (many moons ago) I was a foolish child and now I am a foolish adult. So I took a metaphorical shot of vodka for courage and well, I guess it doesn't have to be perfect but I knew I wanted to put something out there that I'd been thinking about in my head for some time.

Tina was shivering when they first reached Hogwarts. 

None of them had slept that night, finding spaces alone in Flamel's house to curl up and lick their wounds and stare bleakly across the dark horizon. The faintest traces of smoke had seemed to linger in the air, almost imperceptible to everyone else but oppressive to the unfortunate group left behind. 

In the morning everything was a soft blur of plates left with most of the breakfast still on them, glancing at watches and urgent discussions of portkeys. Once the matter of transport was resolved, Tina found herself in the garden wondering where Newt had disappeared off to. She suspected it was inside his case; the one place nobody else would dare disturb him without invitation. 

She knew he preferred to deal with things alone and that after everything that had happened it was only to be expected he would hide away from her. Her heart had started to sink. 

When did everyone start leaving her, she wondered? 

Her parents had died some years prior already but Queenie's sudden disappearance had hurt in an entirely different way, more pressing and frantic. There was almost something of comfort in the finality of death Tina decided, but when the person you cared about was alive but impossible to reach and in untold danger it felt almost corrosive inside. 

There was a hole where her parents were, but there was a fresh searing scar that Queenie had left. 

It made Tina restless, unlike Jacob who seemed slumped in emotional and physical exhaustion. Guilt and confusion were weighing him down, forcing him to take stock. 

Tina hated herself for feeling so irrational but there was a strong urge in her to hit Grindelwald with the darkest curse she could think of the moment she saw him next even if it meant his certain death.

Because she would see him again.

Of that she was certain.

As long as Queenie was by his side, Tina would be right behind him breathing down his neck until he broke. 

"Tina." Newt's quiet voice came from the back door out to her. "Time to go."

She nodded dutifully and flashed him a small but grateful smile which it was reassuring to see still seemed to make him blush a little. Perhaps he hadn't been hiding from her as intentionally as she had feared. 

As if to prove this, he reached out for her hand when it came to holding onto the portkey. At first he had seemed cautious in his explanation of their plan, but once Tina had assured him that if going back to Britain was what Newt thought was best then she would be going with him, he became more resolute.

Tina had overheard earlier that Theseus had wanted to head straight to British Ministry of Magic, but Newt instead had suggested Hogwarts and Theseus took little convincing. Tina knew that he, perhaps more than Jacob and Nagini, was too exhausted by loss to fight any longer.

*

Despite picturing the castle as she had heard it described in stories and recounts from co-workers who'd visited, she hadn't been prepared for what she would experience. 

The cold was like a slap against her skin as they materialised a short distance away, surrounded by rolling hills and mountains, some faintly smattered in snow. A sudden anxiety flooded her at being in a new place, far from any city. She couldn't remember the last time she'd breathed in the air of the countryside. 

Tina only knew what it was to live in bustling places; New York has always been loud and riotous and Ilvermorny was much the same in its own way. It was like a town full of teenagers and magical chaos. 

But here, as they approached the castle from a distance she felt nothing but the sting of the cool air on her face and, aside from the wind, there was a quietness and almost unnerving calmness about the place. 

Hogwarts was large, the grounds vast and open, and the number of students small and virtually unnoticeable from the outside. Ilvermorny had been like a huge extended family living inside one house. Even the largest buildings on the site were still not quite large enough to fit all the students from across the country and continent. 

Travers and the aurors seemed purposeful in their stride towards the school, the others shivering behind in uncertainty. Tina merely watched curiously as a lone figure emerged from the dramatic doorway and made his way towards them. 

Tina had heard of Professor Dumbledore. She knew a little of what he was supposedly like, even read a column or two of his in passing when he'd guest written for the American press. He was eccentric but highly respected. It was strange to her in some ways that the aurors would be so suspicious of him, yet in other ways she understood when it came to powerful figures, the law never could forgive them for being beyond control. 

"He's a slippery sort of fellow." Travers had given a frustrated and subdued explanation on their approach. "And his dealings with Grindelwald in the past made us rather unsure as to whether or not he'd be prepared to take our side in matters. I’m sure you can understand." He added vaguely. 

As Dumbledore approached, Travers moved forwards as if to immediately engage the man, but Theseus reached out an arm to stop him. Newt instead made his way towards his former teacher without being prompted. 

Newt, she knew, had a strange relationship with Dumbledore. In many ways she saw a sense of childlike awe and reverence in the way he spoke of him. Perhaps a hangover from his school days and the fact, as Tina recalled, that Dumbledore had rather mysteriously been the only teacher at Hogwarts to speak against Newt's expulsion. Thinking of how she came by that information, their interrogation from Graves, or Grindelwald in disguise as she always tried to remind herself, sent an uncomfortable sensation up her spine; another aching reminder of how little she seemed to know the people around her. 

She recalled Grindelwald's strangely insistent questions about Dumbledore's motivations in supporting Newt when it had seemed a perfectly reasonable thing to Tina. Knowing Newt for even just a day or two, you didn't have to think too hard to see why someone would try to protect him. He was the sort of person who cared more than anyone had any right to and did so with such a careful sense of vulnerability that it was impossible not to want to wrap him up in cotton wool somehow. Anyone who knew him knew that Newt would never try to hurt any living thing given the choice and for that she felt a great urge to shield him from ever having to do so.

Perhaps Dumbledore felt a sense of kinship with him, Tina mused. They were, after all, both people considered to be somewhat avant-garde in typical wizarding circles and two people previously averse to direct conflict with Grindelwald. 

Watching them across the bridge, she could tell there was a sense of respect if not affection there from the way Newt didn't shy away from his presence as he did other figures of authority. Quietly however, Tina knew that Newt seemed to feel a sense of frustration when it came to Dumbledore that he would never admit to out loud, particularly in the company of Travers who seemed determined to debunk any witch or wizard who made a habit of extolling the professor’s virtues. 

Newt had half heartedly risen to Dumbledore’s defence when convincing Travers to have him released from his tracking bracelets. But his argument was rather more based around insulting the aurors' behaviour than insisting Dumbledore was more worthy of respect Tina noted. He'd seemed tired in his assessment, as though he had carried out this role of Dumbledore's defender longer than he'd care to admit. 

“They appear to be going ahead. Do we follow?” Yusuf asked, exchanging glances with Theseus and Nagini as Newt let his niffler down to the ground to tumble towards the castle.

From behind her, Tina heard Jacob make a shivering noise before tucking his hands inside his jacket. 

"Yeah any chance we can get to some place warm soon rather than standing around lookin' at some weird rocks?" He'd asked tentatively.

Tina frowned and looked around to see what he could be referring to. 

"Ah, Mr. Kowalski, you'll have to forgive my colleagues and I." Theseus coughed slightly. "We forgot that people of… Well that is to say, non-magical people such as yourself aren't able to see Hogwarts from afar. We portkeyed within the range of most of the protective enchantments though so I hope you aren't feeling too inclined to run off into the hills." 

Jacob simply looked more confused. "Whaddaya mean I can't see it?" 

Theseus took a few steps forward and gestured for Jacob to follow. "Perhaps if you come a little closer." 

"I mean, guys," Jacob seemed tired, as though he was being made fun of. "I know I'm a no-maj an' all but I'm not-"

His sentence trailed off as he walked forwards towards the castle in Theseus's stead. 

"... Blind. How did I not see that?" He gawped, his mouth falling open like a fish out of water. "Actually, don't answer that. I don't wanna know." 

The corners of Tina's mouth crept up. If Queenie were here she'd be smitten all over again. She loved introducing Jacob to new things, it was like discovering them all over again. 

But Queenie wasn't here. Tina reminded herself coldly. 

And there was the familiar sting again. 

Travers glanced impatiently at his watch as Dumbledore tossed a skeptical look over his shoulder at the man and continued forward with Newt. The auror sighed and followed, seemingly considering it difficult penance indeed. 

*

It was a great relief to be inside the castle, which, even with the great doors open, was significantly warmer than the biting air outside. The feeling of homeliness permeated Tina’s slick leather coat and her hands began to unstiffen in her pockets. 

A young woman with neatly pinned back hair greeted them somewhat brusquely. 

"Professor. Dumbledore said to make you comfortable in the great hall for a moment while he speaks to Mr. Scammander. Can I offer you some tea? Biscuits?" While it may have been a polite offer, she said it as though it were a list of instructions they had little choice about obeying. 

Travers made to step past the woman. “Now see here-”

“That would be lovely.” Tina heard a voice and realised it was her own, speaking more calmly and with more restraint than she thought herself capable of. 

It seemed that, even if Tina had chosen to let Travers speak on their behalf, the steely look in the eyes of the woman opposite her made it quite clear that he wouldn’t be stepping foot in any part of the castle without her saying so. 

“Yes it’s reassuring to see that at least one of your people has a sense of propriety.” The woman harrumphed, leading them into the hall. 

“Woah.” Jacob whistled. “I ain’t never been to any place like this before.” His eyes were caught on the candles floating gently above the tables.

“Me neither.” Came the soft voice of Nagini.

Tina had not spoken much to the girl since the unspoken incidents of the last twenty four hours but she knew to have been trusted by Credence she must have been through a great ordeal. In her research of the circus she had been made aware of the maledictus and while at first she was appalled by the notion, she tried to think more like Newt and remember that Credence himself was someone considered dark and unrescuable. If there was something to be done for this girl then Tina would do it. 

Nagini rubbed her arms over the borrowed blazer she had been given and glanced around the enchanted sky with a sense of childlike curiosity and when ornate tea sets and piles of custard creams appeared on the table in front of her she reached for them immediately. 

Yusuf joined her at the table, pouring a cup of tea with a quiet look of contemplation and Jacob seemed to be investigating the biscuits for any sort of hidden trick. 

Tina would have felt inclined to join them but she saw the aurors were still standing anxiously by the door, Travers still trying to insist they speak to Dumbledore at once. 

An outsider she may have been but she was still an auror and she still had a job to do. 

She heard the woman’s voice growing louder with impatience until she was joined by Dumbledore himself.

Tina made her way over to see if Newt was with him, the click of her heels echoing against the cool stone of the floor. 

“Newt is upstairs in my office, I had a few things I needed to discuss with him, I’m sure you can understand.” While Dumbledore’s words seemed to be expressed in order to placate the aurors, his gaze met Tina’s. “Perhaps you’d all like to follow me for a moment.” 

“With all due respect Dumbledore, you’re not in any position to make demands of us.” Travers pointed out. “Before we start involving civilians,” he tossed a reluctant look towards the unlikely group sitting a few metres away. “We need to make certain things clear.” 

Dumbledore looked him over cautiously. “Very well. Professor. McGonagall,” he referred to the teacher who had led them inside. “Would you be so kind as to keep our guests company a little while longer, perhaps they’d be amenable to a tour around some of the classrooms.” 

McGonagall seemed somewhat frustrated at the notion but, seeing the more serious look in Dumbledore’s eyes, she turned wordlessly back towards the guests in question and left the aurors to their business. 

Dumbledore began to lead the aurors up the staircases which, unlike the ones at Ilvermorny seemed to be moving with a mind of their own. Tina kept finding herself momentarily distracted by the excessive amounts of portraits and having to jog to catch up. By the third staircase she stopped to catch her breath.

“Are you alright Auror Goldstein?” Theseus asked calmly, pausing to wait for her a moment. 

Travers it seemed hadn’t been paying much attention to her presence and a few of the aurors stopped to mutter to themselves for a moment. 

“Is everything all right?” Dumbledore questioned from the landing ahead. 

“Yes, fine.” Tina assured. “I’m just a little tired is all.” 

“Understandable.” Dumbledore nodded. “These stairs catch us all out, I rather wonder if there’s a better system to be put in place. And after the ordeal I hear you’ve been through-”

“Yes, about that.” Travers interjected. “We were just reminded of the fact that Auror Goldstein is not currently under the employ of the Ministry. We think it would be best if she were to wait with the others while we have this discussion Dumbledore, wouldn’t you say?” He offered Dumbledore a stern glance. 

Theseus looked frustrated but held his tongue. Tina understood, it was his boss after all. 

“Wait with the others?” Dumbledore mused. “And have her walk back down all those stairs only to have to join us again?” He scoffed. “How thoughtless of you Travers.” 

Tina was shocked by this dressing down but she tried not to show it, especially since she was secretly pleased to see the auror lost for words. 

“Very well.” Travers grated out eventually after an awkward pause of consideration. “Perhaps there is somewhere else she could wait until matters are resolved.” 

Dumbledore’s jaw clenched a little, but he smiled somewhat. “I know just the quiet corner.” 

*

They left her in a vast but old looking office, accessed only through a raised platform guarded by a great stone gargoyle. The shelves were lined with strange things, and tired looking portraits of sleepy professors in ancient looking robes were hanging wearily on the old stone walls. 

Tina made her way towards a collection of books stacked on the strong wooden desk, one in particular looked thoroughly well read and she found herself sinking into the leather lined chair, almost throne like in size, and leafing through the yellowed pages. The book was smaller than the others in the pile and upon opening the cover she found a familiar symbol inked on the inside cover. 

Familiar though it was, its origin eluded her and she found herself searching further in the book for any kind of explanation. 

It seemed to simply be some British book of fairy tales designed for children and after chuckling her way through ‘The Wizard and the Hopping Pot’ and ‘The Fountain of Fair Fortune’ she skimmed through the rest of the pages and found no other annotation.

All at once it hit her. This was Grindelwald's mark. She recognised it from countless news reports about his activities across Europe, this unusual symbol left behind. 

But the book and the marking in it were old, she observed. Perhaps it had another meaning once. 

She stood up from the desk with the book under her arm, sure the others could not be much longer and drifted around the place, glancing at all the miscellaneous pieces of history that had found their way onto the shelves, the layers of dust on areas less used. Her hand reached a shiny object she couldn't identify and without thinking she grasped it to hold it up and see it in better light. 

“Ah, I was wondering where I left that.”

She dropped the book and the small and strange metal thing she was holding onto the ground as she turned to see Dumbledore in the room behind her, as if he had always been there. 

"Professor!" She responded with alarm, ducking down to retrieve the unnamed object. “I didn’t mean to pry.” 

“No matter.” Dumbledore smiled reassuringly. “Although I’ll take that book off your hands if you don’t mind.” He crouched down to pick the volume up himself. “While Headmaster Dippet is away I like to come in here to read.” He added by way of explanation. “I’d thank you not to tell him if ever you encounter him. Silly of me to leave it here really, I get far too comfortable with a book and a cup of hot chocolate, all sense of reality seems to slip away.” 

“I could use a bit of that right now.” Tina muttered, fiddling with the forgotten object in her hand. 

Dumbledore nodded. “I can only imagine. Perhaps I could have the house elves make you something with a little more sugar. It may not possess the ability to cure any real illness but I myself have studied the effects of it on raising one's capacity for joy and found the evidence rather compelling… If a little detrimental to the figure." He patted his stomach for good measure. "And of course, it is something your friend downstairs knows the benefits of all too well; I'm told he runs a bakery?" He added. 

"Yes, sir." Tina responded with uncertainty. It all seemed so far away now. She thought she had left Jacob to his own devices all those months ago.

She and Queenie had walked by to check on him and saw business booming. She'd even contemplated buying one of the delicious looking glazed treats in the window. But Queenie had tugged her arm and echoed her sentiments and that was what made Tina stay firm. It was better that Jacob was happy and stayed out of the way of magic from now on. 

Queenie hadn't agreed. 

Tina knew that then. But she didn't know her sister would go back without her. 

Queenie had always said Tina was the one who got up and did things by herself. Queenie was the one who trailed behind and did just enough to get their ma and pa off her back and make them proud. She never got reckless ideas that made her a social pariah; she was always too busy trying to please. 

But Queenie had changed. Or Tina hadn't noticed, she cursed herself. Queenie wasn't content to sit on her hands anymore. 

Why him? Why did it have to be him? Not Jacob, Tina corrected herself internally. Jacob was sweet. He was funny. In a parallel world where they were all just people, she imagined she'd be thrilled if Queenie were to marry a guy so honest and caring. 

But him. Grindelwald. Why'd Queenie have to go cast her lot in with him.

"I've always had a sweet tooth." Dumbledore broke her out of her reverie. He let out a small laugh. "I suppose we're all inclined to make decisions that aren't so beneficial to our health." 

He lent back against the desk, one hand curled in his pocket, the other spread out to support his weight. He looked simultaneously ready to jump up at any moment and like a cat sprawled in the sun. If she didn't know better, she would have said that this was his office.

He was looking at her with a knowing twinkle in his eye, as if he knew exactly what questions were on the tip of her tongue. 

"Newt told me what happened in Paris." He informed her. "About your sister." He was pre-empting her. "She sounds a formidable witch, I daresay when the time comes you will be seeing her again. Perhaps sooner than you think." 

"Yes." Tina acknowledged. "Truth be told sir, I don’t know what I'll be seeing when I look her in the eye again." 

Dumbledore cocked an eyebrow as if he hadn't expected her to say something to that effect. "How do you mean?" 

Tina put the object in her hands, the one she had picked up, firmly back on the shelf with a thud. "I'm not sure I knew my sister at all Professor Dumbledore. I thought I did. But she surprised me, she surprised us all. It’s crazy but I don't know what to do or what to say to make it right." 

"It may surprise you to know that I know a little of what that feels like." Dumbledore gave her an assured but sympathetic glance. 

"I was told you've had dealings with Mr. Grindelwald before." Tina nodded. 

Dumbledore gave her a look that was somewhere between a smile and a frown. "Funny." He said. "I'd almost forgotten he factored into it at all. No, I was simply referring to the feeling of thinking one knew one's sister and being mortifyingly wrong." 

Tina was struck with something. She hadn't even thought of Dumbledore having a family. Newt certainly hadn't mentioned them and he seemed like a man comfortable in his own company. 

"Forgive me." He lowered his gaze. "I didn't mean to imply that you were mortifyingly wrong. Simply perhaps that you feel that way. I daresay you know your sister a damn sight better than I knew mine." 

Tina realised her face had given away how hurt she was feeling at the whole situation. 

"Queenie…" She began delicately. "Is a good person Professor Dumbledore. She… She… She loves people more than I've ever seen anyone love before and she knows exactly how they tick. And I mean exactly how they tick sir; she's a legilimens." 

Dumbledore was nodding, looking at her thoughtfully. 

"If anyone could see through that facade Grindelwald had going on," Tina swallowed. "I would have bet everything I had that it would have been her. I would have sworn it on our parents' graves. How is it possible that… That…" 

"Many have fallen for Grindelwald's charms; it's what he does so well unfortunately." Dumbledore expressed with a deep sigh. 

Tina shook her head and took a step closer towards Dumbledore. "My sister is not a fool sir, she's bright and she's kind and she doesn't just swoon over the nearest guy even if he's the most attractive person on the planet. Look at Jacob, she picked the man any witch like her would have found hardest to love. Some poor no-maj who isn't exactly the kind you'd see modelling dayrobes." Tina tried to catch her breath. "If she went with Mr. Grindelwald it was for some reason bigger than just charm, he must have done something. I don’t know what I’ll do if when I find her again she isn’t… Her anymore." 

Dumbledore was just watching her. He stood up slightly and Tina found herself shuffling backwards. It wasn't something she usually did. When a teacher stood up she would usually still stand her ground. It had gotten her into her fair share of trouble back at Ilvermorny. 

But there was something about Dumbledore, even as he turned away from her and made his way around the side of the desk that made her cautious. Call it auror's intuition, but she knew power when she saw it. But despite the strange aura surrounding him, he seemed oddly subdued. He slowly started tracing the hand that wasn't in his pocket over the wooden back of the grand chair behind it. 

"When I say that Gellert Grindelwald charms people Miss. Goldstein, I do not mean he is an incorrigible flirt, although he can be when it suits him. I mean that he sees parts of oneself that nobody else seems to see. He sees what you want and what you need and he has perfected the art of letting you know that he has it or can get it for you." Dumbledore raised his gaze from the back of the chair to Tina's face. "And… Perhaps more than anything, that he wants it for you." 

He paused to deliberate over this and Tina felt herself swallow and tried to remember the way Grindelwald had spoken through the lips of Percival Graves to Credence back in the subway station.

"He is a skilled occlumens," Dumbledore added. "But not in the way that others try to be. What he does best isn't blocking his mind from people but sharing it in the way that fits best. He is honest even in dishonesty." 

Tina's mouth felt dry in response, she opened it to speak but found no sound came out. 

"Your sister," Dumbledore went on. "Is a fool only in the way that we are all fools. She is human." 

He offered a small smile, but it gave way to darker feelings that he seemed to think were important to explain further.

"It is my greatest reservation about our respective ministries' attempts at curtailing Grindelwald's influence; their lack of understanding of this." He expressed. "They think they can cut down and dismiss whoever leans with him, whoever's views slightly align with his or whoever offers him so much as a handkerchief or a cup of tea. It is naive. Whatever they have done in his name or whatever sympathy they have chosen to show, they are only human. They are not all some corrupt and controlled army answerable only to him. It would do the authorities well to remember that. They would sooner make themselves an enemy than look themselves in the mirror." 

"But the things he's done sir, how could anyone excuse that?" Tina willed her voice not to shake. 

Dumbledore, it seemed, was at an impasse for a brief moment. He opened his mouth but paused before speaking.

"If… Someone you respect or love does something you cannot condone but tells you it's in your interest, if you trust them, you will try everything to believe them." 

Tina thought about this. "I suppose that's true. But surely there comes a point-"

"I believe there does." Dumbledore nodded. "But perhaps that's simply because I came to it myself. And I daresay your sister will too, because I'm sure you're right about her, Auror Goldstein. Have faith." He patted the chair beside him as though it were Tina's shoulder.

Tina nodded. It wasn't necessarily comforting to hear but she supposed Dumbledore was right. Queenie had never given up on her before, it wasn't right that she shouldn't afford her the same respect. 

"So you…" She thought about how the aurors never seemed to trust Dumbledore. "You were a follower of his once?" 

The corner of Dumbledore's lip turned up "Of a sort." The hand in his pocket seemed to twitch, but he caught the movement and stopped it. "We knew each other when we were young." 

"Forgive me, sir, but what was he like then?" Tina found herself desperate to know. 

Dumbledore shrugged lightly. "Much as he is now; it'd be wrong of me to claim otherwise. Even then he had something of a reputation although it was not quite so well documented and publicised." 

"And you… Liked him?" Tina fiddled with her hands. It felt strange to ask such a question, the hatred she felt for Grindelwald surged under her skin. 

Dumbledore laughed, in a sort of hollow way. "I suppose I did, in a way. Perhaps 'liked' isn't the word I'd use." 

"You were suspicious of him?" Tina gathered.

Dumbledore's face looked a little more pitying then and Tina didn't quite understand. "I was suspicious of him in some ways, and in others I was suspicious of most everyone apart from him. He was a truth in my life I felt nobody could understand or see." 

"But how did you realise that he was just, y'know… Manipulating." Tina urged. 

"What's difficult about that," Dumbledore mused, scratching the side of his beard. "Is that whilst I'm sure he tried his hand at manipulation in the conscious sense, what was more effective was the ways in which he didn't." Tina frowned. "It was me who didn't realise that what he believed mattered was wrong until it was too late.

"Of course he framed everything in ways he thought would look more positive to me, but, one doesn't have to be blind to all things. I was quite aware that he had a tendency to exaggerate for my benefit, to decorate the shelf if you will. I thought it was charming at the time." He scoffed at himself. 

"So you're saying he believes in what he says? Is that it? You think he truly does want for Queenie to marry a no-maj and live happily ever after?" Tina responded incredulously. 

"Yes and no." Dumbledore waved a hand ambiguously. 

Tina rubbed her tired eyes. It was getting difficult to still want to understand. 

"Grindelwald," And there was something in how Dumbledore said his name, how his mouth curled around the syllables. "Has a few things he considers important to him, a system which he would like to see in place. If his plans are still anything like what they were when we were boys, his concern for what he considers trivial matters are not part of his agenda except for when it suits him. But, when it comes to marriages the current society views as unfavourable, I do believe he has some thoughts on the matter. I daresay he would let a witch and a muggle marry in his world. But I understand that he would not view it as a marriage of equals in the way that your sister hopes." 

Tina paused to consider this. 

Her sister deserved the world, she'd always thought this. She deserved to be able to be with the man she fell in love with, settle down and have the family she'd always dreamed of. She knew Queenie would want to go wherever it was she had to go to have that- she knew about the botched love potions after all, the secret trip to the UK for a clandestine marriage. 

She knew why Queenie would want to believe in Grindelwald in that sense, but she didn't know why Grindelwald would want to believe in Queenie. 

"I don't see how she could ever trust him. Queenie's a coffee girl at MACUSA, with a muggle boyfriend. And if he's so…" She waved her hand searching for the right word. "Astute? If he knows what people want already then why does he need her? If he's so good at controlling his own mind I bet he could delve into people's heads as much as he wanted without any help from her." 

Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement of this. "It would certainly seem that way. But perhaps to Queenie the idea of him seeing more than her legilimency, more than just someone who makes coffee as you say is what makes him so appealing. 

And as for what intrigues him about her, well, that I can answer. Grindelwald often drives towards the isolated, alone and underappreciated, especially those he perceives to hold great talent that goes unnoticed and those with ideas for changing the world for the greater good. 

It goes without saying of course that, having worked alongside her at MACUSA for all that time under the guise of your employer, he'll know that she likely has a unique insight into the running of the place. She goes unobserved amongst her co-workers but she can hear all their comings and goings. I have no doubt that that sort of information would prove useful to him and more easily acquired from her than by his own long term ingratiation in disguise after what a disaster his last attempt was."

Tina grimaced at the reminder of her own failure to spot the snake in the grass, even after all the signs pointed at something being wrong she hadn't thought. If it hadn't been for Queenie, she didn't know where she'd be. 

"Queenie would never give up people's private information like that." Tina dismissed. "It wouldn't matter what he said, she knows people have boundaries for a reason." 

"Well perhaps it's more delicate than that." Dumbledore explained. "Grindelwald wants power, that much is obvious to anyone regardless of how well they think he could manage it. But he doesn't intend to use force to achieve it when he doesn't believe it to be beneficial. He would much sooner rule through consent and for that he needs approval. With someone like Queenie on his side, she offers a unique advantage." 

Tina looked at him blankly. 

"Simply put, she's kind." He finished.

"You think…" Tina said slowly, filling in the blanks. "That she sets a good example? If someone like her can support Grindelwald, then it makes him look more appealing." 

Dumbledore nodded. "And of course, as you've mentioned, she has a particular proclivity for helping vulnerable people, not unlike yourself. Grindelwald could convince her that bringing someone over to his side would help them, do you not think she would use all the tools at her disposal to do it? Tools that Grindelwald can only dream of accessing as naturally as she does." 

"But if he's looking to convert people who want change, why did he just dismiss Newt and I out of hand? When we were fighting against the MACUSA's stance on muggles and creatures, he tried to have us killed!" Tina pointed out. "How could Queenie have forgotten that?" 

"Well, Grindelwald has often been guilty of underestimating others. It is a consequence of his ego. If he did not think you useful Auror Goldstein, he was a fool. But I must be grateful that he didn't attempt to win you over as it is possible you would not be here right now if that were the case." Dumbledore offered her a tentative smile. 

"As for Queenie's seeming acceptance of what you and I would consider a singularly inexcusable flaw, well, Grindelwald is very adept at making seemingly sincere apologies. He could excuse his way out of everything as a boy. When he should have been imprisoned with his wand destroyed at Durmstrang for his ill conceived, malicious experiments he was simply expelled and carted off to a charming English village to stay with a relative who would spoil him and let him create small explosions to his heart's content. It takes someone who holds grudges in a very strong manner not to forgive him when he weaves out the narrative that best befits him. Which is unfortunate as, in most circumstances, I would say that to have a forgiving nature is something to be admired." 

The idea of a young Grindelwald experimenting with tiny explosions in secret was unsettling now to think of the intensity with which he had allowed the fiendfyre in Paris to almost consume the city. She wondered how he justified that to himself. Maybe Paris was just one small city to him in a world of potential followers. Could he really apologise his way out of mass murder? Could people ever really believe in him? Had Dumbledore believed in him?

"Could you ever forgive him?" Tina asked quietly. 

Dumbledore struggled to meet her eye. "It has never been so much a question of forgiving him as forgiving myself for not doing more to prevent what has occurred." 

"Sometimes… We can't help who our friends are." Tina mused. 

Dumbledore laughed. It was short and empty but there was something in it that spoke of something warmer once. "Friends. Is that what they say we were?" 

"I'm not quite sure what anyone says Professor Dumbledore, only you said you knew him and it seems to me you know him rather well, if you don't mind me saying." Tina explained awkwardly. "I didn't mean to imply that you cared about him." 

"Well you wouldn't have been wrong if you had." Dumbledore admitted. "I cared about him a great deal but it was… Not necessarily in a way reserved for friendship." 

"Oh." Tina nodded. But then glanced up at his meaningful expression, a somewhat searching and imperative look in his eyes. She thought further on his words and then "Oh." 

"Yes." Dumbledore nodded tentatively, confirming her suspicions. 

Tina swallowed. "Well that explains why you know so much about how he likes to flirt." 

Dumbledore's eyes had a small mirth behind them, despite the pain as he laughed in response. 

"So that's why the ministry's so scared; they think you'll go after him?" Tina asked cautiously. 

Dumbledore's smile didn't quite reach his eyes as he shook his head slowly. "I doubt there are any serious concerns that I would stand with Grindelwald against them. It's my understanding they are working to make sure that I will do quite the opposite. But why they seem to be labouring under the impression that a school teacher would make a good soldier… Well, it's beyond me. Hogwarts isn't the sort of place one rallies troops." 

"Yeah that lady downstairs didn't seem too happy to see them." Tina recalled. 

"Ah." Dumbledore nodded in recognition. "It was quite rude of me to have Professor. McGonagall deal with them I suppose. She's always been reliable both as a student and a colleague. I daresay once her research has concluded she will have a long and fulfilling career here at Hogwarts." 

"You taught her?" Tina asked, her curiosity allowing her to be somewhat distracted. 

"I did." Dumbledore smiled. "And I was quite insistent that she return to Hogwarts upon her earliest possible convenience after completing her NEWT exams. She didn't take my offer seriously until certain personal circumstances caused her to reconsider the practicality of it. And although of course I was sorry to hear of the state of things, I was incredibly glad of her company. Her rather generous supply of biscuits, among other things, gets me through some particularly tedious reams of marking." 

"You really do seem to look out for your students sir. I'm not sure where Newt would be without you." She alluded to the mysterious throwing out incident. 

"I wish I could have done more for him." Dumbledore sighed. "Even now, I'm not quite sure if the path I've sent him down has been the wisest." 

Tina shook her head. "I doubt Newt does anything unless it's his own decision." 

"I suppose that's true." Dumbledore smiled fondly. "It is a wonder seeing him back here. Most students view Hogwarts as their home in some way, but I always got the sense he would have rather been elsewhere." 

Tina was a little taken aback. It was true Newt was often somewhat bitter when looking back on his school experience whether he cared to admit it or not. But whenever Hogwarts was mentioned, despite it all, Newt showed a strange sense of loyalty to the place. Queenie was the same about Ilvermorny but Tina had never quite managed to feel that way. She’d felt restless at school and when her parents got sick, though it was respite at first, she was just anxious that she was losing time with them while she was boarding so far from home.

Even once they'd passed, she'd pursued a career as an auror just to prove her professors wrong when they told her she lacked certain necessary qualities. Just what those qualities were that they were referring to, she couldn't be sure. But if it was a conformist, boot licking attitude they were looking for, she wouldn't have wanted to give them the satisfaction of that in a million years. 

"Newt always seems pretty fond of Hogwarts when he talks about it." Tina assured him. 

"Fond he may be." Dumbledore nodded. "But I still doubt he ever saw it as home. People like Newt are not meant to be in one place." 

"You don't think he'd settle down for the right person?" Tina asked quietly. It was something she'd been thinking about more often than she'd care to admit, even while everything else was pressing in on her. 

Dumbledore offered her a knowing look. "I think…" He paused to consider. "The right person wouldn't ask him to." 

As if on cue, the door swayed open with a soft thud and Dumbledore rose to his feet once more as Newt and the others, including the group from downstairs, traipsed inside. 

"Tina." Newt greeted, making his way discreetly to her side and standing close. 

He didn't make a move to initiate any physical contact but his proximity to her was reassuring enough that he was here and on her side. He slowly lifted his gaze to meet hers in a rare form of contact and although he blinked away. She was reminded of his compliment back at the French archives. Her eyes might have been like fire to him, but his were like the sky to her. Although they were cloudy at present, she was reminded of the fact that the path ahead of them both was full of possibility. 

Theseus looked almost lost without him as he tried to stand steady on his own at the other side of the room. Tina had to quietly remind herself that they'd both lost Leta not so long ago. When she turned to Dumbledore and found him glancing between them, she knew he was thinking the same. 

"So you've realised you can afford to take what help you can get?" Dumbledore asked Travers in a terse manner. 

Travers removed his hat and sighed in a frustrated manner. "If you think we're tossing the quaffle to you Dumbledore, think again. If we require your services they will be simply that; services. Not you playing mind games and steering things off course." 

"I'd hardly say giving well meaning advice is playing mind games Travers. But if ignoring me reassures you, then there's nothing more I can say." 

"Good." Travers grumbled. 

"Sir," Theseus cut in. "With all due respect, it was Professor Dumbledore who told us not to approach Grindelwald's rally. If we hadn't gone in there then… Well things might not have happened in quite the same way." 

Travers shook his head. "Whether we went there or not, Grindelwald would have found a way to cause a scene Scamander, if you're concerned about the risks of the job you should wonder if you're in the right career." 

Theseus took a step forward, his jaw tense, but Newt seemed to sense the rising frustration keenly and stepped forward to place a hand on his brother's shoulder. 

"All right Travers." Newt quietly admonished. "You've already said your piece. We know to stand any chance of bringing Grindelwald down we need to work together here. You agreed to allow us all the chance to offer our support but it goes without saying that we'll be working towards Grindelwald's capture with or without your respect." 

"The ministry's patience with you grows thin, Newt." Travers turned to him coldly. "You'd do well to stand in line where you should have been before all of this began instead of relying on the good words of others and nepotism." 

Newt's face reddened under the scrutiny, Tina knew he wasn't a man well accustomed to confrontation. 

"Newt and I are the only people in this room that have successfully captured Grindelwald before or calmed Credence in any way." Tina said strongly. “If you want to do this alone, go ahead. But don't expect us to sit around and do your paperwork while you pick our brains, take the credit and make a mess of things. If I wanted that I'd have stayed in America, sir. As it is, I want Grindelwald gone and my sister back and if you can offer me your assistance then all of this will be water under the bridge." 

For the first time in the last twenty four hours she didn't feel like crying. Instead she felt a cool sense of security combined with the sneaky feeling of warmth as she saw Newt gaze at her in wonder and Dumbledore with a proud glint in his eye. 

"Offer you, my assistance?" Travers said with a small scoff, glancing around at his fellow aurors, but none of them seemed to meet his gaze. 

Tina nodded. "Yes." She said firmly, clasping her hands together to stop them shaking. 

"Miss Goldstein is a first rate auror, Travers. Who would you be to start turning on your own?" Dumbledore reminded him, with all the air of an exasperated teacher hoping not to have to assign a detention. 

"I've heard quite enough from your high horse today Dumbledore." Travers refuted. "Your opinions have been noted but for now I'd like to focus on the matter at hand." 

He pulled out his wand and had a piece of parchment and a map levitate from his pocket in front of the group, motioning for the others to gather round. 

Newt returned to Tina's side and they shuffled towards Dumbledore and the desk. 

"We suspect Grindelwald's current whereabouts to be somewhere across the region of…" Travers began.

But Tina was distracted as she felt something press into her hand closest to Dumbledore. 

Looking down she saw a neatly wrapped yellow sweet. 

"Sherbet lemon." He mouthed, unwrapping one of his own before tossing it in his mouth. "The biscuits are downstairs." He whispered by way of explanation. "We'll have to make do."

Despite it all, she was glad at least to have made a new ally of sorts though she had no idea what the future held. She held the sweet in her hand and turned to briefly catch Newt's eye again. 

He offered a weak smile. She knew the world was weighing on him, but together, she thought, together they might just make it.

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if you enjoyed it. My ego is very fragile but I'd love to get into the Deep Chats™ with you and hopefully forget about any particular negativities out there at the moment. 
> 
> ALSO if anyone wants to translate to other languages I would be eternally grateful- Russian fandom I'm looking at you Я учусь но мне нужна помощь <3


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